


Once Upon a Mattress

by mldrgrl



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 20:20:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7402477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mldrgrl/pseuds/mldrgrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fulfilling a request for a fic where Mulder has to deal with getting a new mattress after Monday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once Upon a Mattress

Mulder was early. It came as a surprise to Scully, since fifteen minutes late was usually his version of on time. Early was unheard of, therefore she wasn’t quite ready to go. She let him in the front door, annoyed because her hair was still in rollers and she had to hold her half-buttoned blouse closed with one hand.

 

“Loving the new look,” Mulder said.

 

“Shut up, Mulder,” she replied, buttoning her shirt as she walked away from him down the hall.

 

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

 

“What kind of favor?” She turned around, startled to find that he’d followed her down the hall and was directly behind her.

 

“Can I lay on your bed?”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Just for a few minutes.”

 

“Mulder, we have to be at the airport in less than an hour, now’s not the time for a nap.”

 

“I don’t need a nap, I just want to test it out.”

 

“ _Test it out_?” she repeated. “Mulder, go sit down. I need to finish getting ready.”

 

She stepped into the bathroom and then whipped around, putting her arms across the doorway as Mulder tried to follow her inside. She glared up at him, wondering what the hell was the matter with him.

 

“Mulder?”

 

“I just need to see what it feels like,” he pleaded. “I have to get a new mattress since the waterbed nearly drowned the downstairs neighbor and I have no idea what to get.”

 

“So, go to the mattress store and try out their beds.”

 

“Well, I’m going to do that too, but I want to be prepared before I go in.”

 

Scully hesitated and then looked at her watch. She couldn’t stand there arguing with him all morning. Reluctantly, she dropped her arms from the doorway in resignation.

 

“Fine,” she said. “Don’t mess it up. It’s already made.”

 

He grinned. “I won’t!”

 

Ten minutes later, Scully was done with her hair and make-up and when she walked into her room, Mulder was lying on his back on the left side of the bed, arms and legs spread out. His eyes were closed and he’d taken his suit jacket off and draped it on the empty side. He also had the decency to remove his shoes, which she supposed she should be grateful for.

 

“It’s time to go,” she said.

 

“I haven’t made up my mind,” he answered. “What do you like about it?”

 

“It’s firm and it doesn’t have a lot of bounce.”

 

Mulder wigged slightly. “Lay down on the other side,” he requested, picking up his jacket and pulling it over his torso. He patted the bed next to him in invitation.

 

“We don’t have time for this.”

 

“Just for a minute.”

 

“And then what? How is me being in the bed going to make a difference with whether or not you like it?”

 

“Oh, I’m quite sure I’d like any bed a lot more with you in it, Scully.” He waggled his brows at her and patted the space beside him again.

 

“We have to go,” she said, firmly, picking up her overnight bag from the chair.

 

Mulder sighed and sat up. He slid his shoes on and put his jacket back on and then smoothed the wrinkles out of the bedspread once he was finished.

 

“Firm and not a lot of bounce,” he mumbled to himself as Scully pushed him towards the door.

 

******

 

When Mulder told her he needed her to come over and take a look at something, Scully did not imagine she’d be standing in his bedroom, on a Saturday night, staring at a bare mattress.

 

“ _This_ is what you needed me to look at?” she said.

 

“Sit down.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because if I don’t like it, I have a week to return it.”

 

“Yes, if _you_ don’t like it, Mulder. This is your mattress. Why would my opinion matter?”

 

Mulder rolled onto the bed and sat up on his elbows. “Why, Scully,” he said. “I’m surprised at you. Your opinion _always_ matters to me.”

 

She rolled her eyes and sighed as she sat down. Very reluctantly, she toed off her shoes and lay down next to him, gasping when she saw their reflection in the mirrors above the bed.

 

“Mulder!”

 

“I know, I know,” he said. “They’re coming down next week.”

 

Suddenly overcome with a weird sense of déjà vu, she frowned and wiggled her shoulders.

 

“What’s wrong?” Mulder asked. “Too hard? Too soft?”

 

“Too weird.” She tried to sit up, but Mulder put a hand on her arm.

 

“Wait,” he said. “Would you…”

 

“Would I what?”

 

He let go of her arm and folded his hands over his stomach, watching her in the mirror. She lifted her brows in question and he sighed a little and closed his eyes.

 

“The thing about the couch,” he said, “is that there’s no empty space to fill.”

 

Frowning, Scully got up onto her elbows to look down at him. Her right eyebrow rose half an inch into a pointed arch, wrinkling her forehead. Mulder’s eyes were closed and without opening them, he reached across and felt for her shoulder, pushing her lightly back down to the bed.

 

“Don’t look so worried,” he murmured, still with his eyes closed. “You know I’m saving myself for marriage.” He squinted one eye open just then and gave her a smile. “You know, if I was trying to seduce you, I’d have put the new sheets on already.”

 

“I didn’t think that,” she protested, even though her mind had started to move in that direction.

 

He reached down and laced his fingers with hers. “Egyptian cotton, Scully. 400 thread count.”

 

“Be still my heart.”

 

“Just stay a minute so I know what I’m missing.”

 

Scully stared up at their reflections, a sudden sadness washing over her. She shook her hand free of his and sat up, prompting him to sit up as well.

 

“What’s wrong?” Mulder asked.

 

“Is this about Diana?”

 

“Diana?”

 

“Is this…” she waved her hand over the bed behind her and then between them. “This…whatever this is, is it for her?”

 

“No.”

 

“Are you sure? Because if it-”

 

“I’m very, _very_ sure,” he interrupted, sliding off the bed and taking her hand to pull her to her feet. “I think I’ll be keeping the mattress. Why don’t you help me with the sheets?”

 

The End

 


End file.
